Economic support initiatives, such as village savings and loans associations, play a key role in empowering communities to also meet to share ideas on other issues like sanitation, gender, natural resource management or conflict resolution.

Dor Anei Garang became a widow early. At the age of 23, her husband Chol died during an armed conflict and she remained alone in Gakrol, a small village near Aweil, with six children to raise. Dor’s only support arrived from Bol, her brother-in-law, but it was never enough to grant a decent life to her kids.

“I had no money to buy food, clothes or send them to school,” she recalls “It was so painful to hear them crying because of hunger.” At night, Dor would lay in her bed with eyes wide open racking her brains over a way to have a business and her own income.

In late 2019, FAO with the support of the European Union launched a series of activities around Aweil to improve the living conditions of rural communities and build their resilience. Dor’s determination was revitalized after she registered in a village savings and loans association, expressing “my life has changed since then!”

Village savings and loans associations are groups of 30 people that get together to save money and take small loans from those savings. A simple system that is generating powerful results in rural communities of South Sudan with no access to financial services.

Dor and the other members were trained on how to manage a business and the weekly savings, receiving a start-up kit made of saving box, calculator, record book and some money – the equivalent of 60 US dollars. Further to facilitating easy access to credit, FAO provided members with high-quality crop and vegetable seeds to allow them to grow their own food and guided them on the most appropriate agricultural practices and techniques to boost their yields.

By joining the association, group members realized they were not alone and increasingly started assisting each other. Dor soon became eligible for a loan and borrowed a few thousand South Sudanese pounds, around 14 USD, from the community whose members collected some extra money to help her raise her newborn, her seventh child.

She bought two female goats, that shortly multiplied to six and set up a garden with sorghum, sesame, groundnuts and some vegetables. To increase the yields, Dor put into practice all the notions she acquired during the training including the use of goats’ droppings as manure.

“My kids got healthy soon after they started drinking goat milk and eating my delicious porridge, vegetable rice and meat soup,” says Dor proudly.

With the money left from her loan, Dor decided to embark on a new challenge – working as a tea and coffee vendor. She quickly found all the utensils she needed, bought a few tables and stools and started serving boiling tea and coffee to customers in her new stall at the market in Gakrol.

“My business is doing great,” she says incredulous adding that she’s now able to buy 3.5 kg of sorghum a day, pay the school fees and have more time for herself. Dor stopped relying on Bol for a living and lack of money doesn’t torment her anymore.

I want to be an example to others and give them hope. If I made it, every woman in the community can make it too. They’re not alone.”

Dor now is striving to pass on her knowledge and encourages those who are new to village savings and loans associations to create groups similar to the one she had joined.

By joining groups, vulnerable members find a safe space where they can discuss their problems, seek advice and get help when in need. Economic support initiatives, such as village savings and loans associations, play a key role in empowering communities to also meet to share ideas on other issues like sanitation, gender, natural resource management or conflict resolution.

The European Union is one of the biggest and long-lasting contributors to FAO in South Sudan. With the project ‘South Sudan Rural Development: strengthening smallholders’ resilience in Northern Bahr el-Ghazal’, the EU helps FAO promote alternative livelihoods and create income generating opportunities for vulnerable populations. Since its inception, the project supported 1 200 farming families and 900 beneficiaries joined 30 village savings and loans associations established by FAO.